


Water

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 10:38:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17222447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: To Blink, Mush is a necessity.





	Water

Mush thought that water was a cure for everything. Like this one time, when Blink had had a sore throat, Mush had marched into Tibby’s and ordered him a “cup of tea without the tea” because hot water wasn’t on the menu, and the new waiter kept refusing to bring it to them. Another time, Blink had discovered that his back and neck were covered in a brown scaly rash, so Mush had suggested he take a shower; low and behold the rash had rinsed off, almost as though it was just a crust of dirt.

Today Blink didn’t have a rash, and his throat was in perfect working order, without so much as a rasp or a tickle. It was his mood that was the problem.

“Let’s go sit by the river,” Mush suggested around noon, after discovering Blink in an alley busily kicking his papes to a papery death. “Running water makes folks relax and stop kicking things.”

Blink wasn’t sure about running water making folks relax, but he did know that he always felt better when he was around Mush. “I’m sick of bastards who thinks they can say anything they wants just ‘cause they got a school uniform and two working eyes,” Blink growled, but when Mush put his hand on his shoulder, the fight went out of him.

It wasn’t much later that Blink found himself sitting by the Hudson, with his ankle pressed up against Mush’s, leaning almost into him. The day was breezy and bright, one of the few truly perfect days in late May, before the sun became hot and vengeful with the coming of summer. Give it a couple more weeks, and they’d both be dripping sweat, but today Mush’s vest and his moss green shirt looked clean and dry. Blink leaned closer then backed away, just in time to keep himself from doing something truly stupid. If there was any time to hold onto his anger, this was it. He filled his mind with boys in clothes that were crisper and prettier than Mush’s, shirts pressed and starched, boys who weren’t like them.

“The water sounds nice, don’t it Kid?” Mush asked quietly. “You see that bird over there?”

“That bird’s a stuck up idiot who thinks he’s better than everyone else, most of all us,” Blink replied. “That’s why it’s wearing bright red feathers. Stupid bird.”

Mush frowned in a way that was somewhere between hurt and confused. “He’s a bird, Kid. He don’t think about nothin’ ‘cept for being a bird and laying eggs.”

Blink huffed out a breath.

“I’m sorry some school boys was mean to you, Kid. They shouldn’t’ve acted like that.”

“Why’re you apologizing on their behalf? Ain’t like you was mean to anyone.”

Mush just shrugged. He reached over and lay his hand over Blink’s, his fingers warm and calloused, and as familiar as if the two of them sat around holding hands all the time. Some of the tension melted away from Blink, forgotten in the moment. When Mush leaned his forehead against Blink’s, Blink couldn’t help but smile. Mush mirrored his grin, which just made Blink smile wider. The river flowed, the birds sang, the sun shone, and Blink could feel his heart becoming happy again.

Mush thought that water was a cure for everything — absolutely everything, from sore throats, to rashes, to bad moods and fits of rage. He wasn’t right. Water was just water. Mush would never guess that he himself was the best medicine Blink could find, that one elemental and necessary thing in his life that Blink needed most.


End file.
